Motorcycles are one of the most affordable forms of transportation available in today's society. There are motorcycles available on the market that will get a rider as many as 80 miles per gallon (mpg) or more and cost around USD $3000-$3500. Most motorcyclists, worldwide, are abroad in developing countries or countries with high population densities such as China and India. However, motorcyclists are still present domestically, and a commonplace in many parts of the country. One drawback to riding motorcycles is the associated risk of being on the open road with no external structure to protect the rider.
In 2006, according to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 13.10 cars per every 100,000 registered automobiles were involved in fatal accidents. For motorcycles, the rate was 72.34 per 100,000 registered motorcycles. Thus, motorcycle riders were over five and a half times (5.5×) more likely to be involved in a fatal accident while on the road. One of the most comprehensive motorcycle accident studies to date, the Hurt Report, found that about seventy five percent (75%) of motorcycle accidents involved a passenger car. Additionally it was found that in multiple vehicle accidents, the other driver violated the motorcyclist's right of way about sixty six percent (66%) of the time. The report ultimately concluded that motorists failing to notice or detect motorcyclists is the predominate cause of accidents involving motorcycles. However, it was noted that head lamps and wearing high visibility colors such as red, yellow, and orange helped to mitigate motorcycle accident involvement.
Reviewing of related technology:
U.S. Pat. No. 7,377,665 teaches a belt buckle with an embedded power source, such as a battery, and an attached or embedded light source, such as light emitting diodes, for illuminating an area in front of a user, such as a hiker, climber, or trail-runner. The buckle is typically a side-release plastic buckle, and is typically mounted centrally on a pack's hip-belt. The light is adjustable vertically, or has a lens to produce a tall, narrow beam of light for the purpose of illuminating a large section of trail.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,095,657 teaches a flashlight assembly that has a body with spaced end portions each attachable to one of two shoulder straps so that the body may be suspended across the chest of a user with its end portions level. The body includes a battery compartment and a switch, and each end portion has lugs pivotally mounting a lamp, each lamp including a reflector and a light source connectable to a battery in the compartment via the switch. The lamps are independently pivotal through at least a right angle about a horizontal axis such that with the body held in position across the user's chest, the lamps may be adjusted so that one provides a light beam capable of illuminating the ground near the user's feet while the other illuminates objects in front of the user, or alternatively so that both lamps may illuminate objects in front of the user.
U.S. Patent Application 2011/0038142 teaches illumination gear that has a strap pad slidably mounted on a strap. A battery-operated lamp is mounted on the strap pad. The strap pad with lamp may be adjusted anywhere along the strap, so as to adjust the position of the lamp to a desired height. The illumination gear may be constructed as a harness, as a vest, or as a set of suspenders. Anchor straps may be provided on the vest or the harness, to secure the straps to belt loops on a trouser waistband or to another garment, to prevent the illumination gear from riding up or shifting position.
Thus, it is desirable to have an invention, such as that in the present disclosure, that combines the use of high intensity light and color to produce an efficient, wearable safety device for motorcyclists. Various devices are known in the art. However, their structure and means of operation are substantially different from the present disclosure. The other inventions fail to solve all the problems taught by the present disclosure. At least one embodiment of this invention is presented in the drawings below and will be described in more detail herein.